"Deliver Us From Evil"
Isaiah 64: 1-9; I Cor. 1:3-9; Mark 13:24-37
I don’t know why I hesitated. But I was glad later that I did.
Jim and I had just pulled up in front of the Renville Post Office. I had letters to mail and my hand was on the inside door handle of the Mini Cooper ….
When we both saw it…The creature.
We watched as it made its way across Main St. to the sidewalk in front of us—the one where the blue mailbox and my destination stood.
Jim got out the words first, “What…is…that?!” he exclaimed.
“That is a rat,” I said, dread washing over me.
Now since this conversation, Jim and I have talked to others about the creature. And we have looked on the Web. We have come up with a list of what it was not:
It was not a muskrat. Not a possum. Definitely not a mouse.
It had the body shape, head, and tail of a rat, but if it was a rat, it was the biggest rat we have ever seen.
Seriously.
And it was walking down the sidewalk without fear, like it owned the place.
A young man in front of the lounge caught sight of it and crossed the street and walked toward it, laughing and making shooing motions with his arms.
The creature slowly turned, and began waddling in the opposite direction of the man. As if it had simply changed its mind.
Jim said, “That is the most domesticated rat I have ever seen.”
And I, ever the silly one, said maybe it was a pet. Ralph the Rat of Renville.
I still waited, though, till the creature was far away from the post office before I darted out to the mailbox, then back to the car, slamming the door shut.
Because I knew, deep down, this ugly thing was nobody’s pet. In fact, there was nothing good about this disease-spreading rodent strolling through our small town in the daylight, showing no fear of human beings.
In a word, this thing was evil waiting to happen. Nothing good comes from a rat. And there is never just 1 rat!
I don’t know why Jim and I were so surprised to see a big rodent here.
Rodents live just about everywhere, so why not in town where there is a grain elevator and dumpsters full of tasty morsels for a rat?
Yes, it was logical that rats would be here. But we certainly don’t want to see them. We don’t want to know they are here.
Thinking about the rat, I can’t help but shudder.
Rats where children play and elderly people walk. Evil waiting to happen.
***
When I first read the Mark and Isaiah scriptures for today—the first Sunday in Advent, I thought, no way do I want to use lectionary scriptures for preaching this week.
They seemed too gloomy for this joyous season. And it would be OK if I didn’t use lectionary if I felt the Lord was leading me elsewhere. That happens.
But the more I read them, the more I realized that I just didn’t like them because they spoke of evil – and not just the devil kind of evil, out there somewhere. They spoke of the evil within human beings.
And how we should be watchful and alert because the Lord is returning and the end of the world as we know it is coming. That’s pretty scary stuff.
We don’t like to think about evil and definitely not ourselves as evil. Our pride keeps us from wanting to admit our own weakness and sinfulness.
We want the love and acceptance of God, without the knowledge of our own depravity and unworthiness.
But it’s true. We only have to turn on the news to hear about murders, greed, and violence in the world to be reminded that evil is alive and well… wherever people are. It’s not just in the big cities.
It is here, too.
Evil is as bold and unafraid as a huge rat strolling the streets and sidewalks of Renville.
So, my brothers and sisters, you might be wondering why we need to talk about evil during Advent. Because here’s the thing. All of us would rather skip right to Christmas and the birth of our Savior.
We want the beauty of transformed lives, without the reminder of what we used to be, or what we would be even now, without the Spirit’s intervention.
And if we skip right over Advent, a time of anticipating not only the celebration of our Savior’s birth, but also the hope of the Second Coming, then we skip over the part about why Christ had to come in the first place.
And why He had to suffer and die.
To appreciate God’s sacrifice and what He has done for us, we have to know how bad and how helpless we are to make things right on our own.
That’s why Jesus taught us to pray every day for our Heavenly Father to give us our daily bread, forgive us as we forgive, lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
Because evil surrounds us and tempts us every day. Even in small towns like Renville.
But here’s the promise we can count on. Paul in First Corinthians tells us that God’s grace has been given to us in Christ Jesus.
So we can dwell in dark places and not be overcome by the darkness.
We are not lacking any of the spiritual gifts we need, Paul says, as we wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ.
So do not fear; God will strengthen us to the very end.
And there’s more good news. Because of the death and resurrection of His Son, God sees those who love Christ and humbly seek forgiveness in Him as blameless!
Christ’s sacrifice took the penalty for our sins, past, present and future.
Therefore, God doesn’t see us as the big ugly rodents we would be without Christ and the Spirit transforming us into new creatures.
That means we don’t have to fear the end of the world and Judgment Day because for those who believe on Him, it will be like a joyous wedding feast.
God is the faithful potter and we are His clay.
We can anticipate, long for, and hope on our Lord’s return, knowing He will deliver us from evil.
We are the work of His hands, forever in His hands.
Let us pray.
Holy and merciful God, let us never forget what you have done for us through the sacrifice of your Son. Give us humble hearts that seek your Will for our lives and praise you all of our days. Guide us to walk in faith as the new creatures you want us to be. Help us trust that you are working in us and that we are merely clay in the security of our loving potter’s hands. Keep us from the temptation to skip right past Advent to Christmas, without acknowledging our sinful state and our need for a Savior. Help us to be like Jesus and be lights in the dark places of this world, without fearing the evil that surrounds us. In Christ’s name we pray. Amen.
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